New Austal cat is biggest ever

Although shorter than Austal’s 127m trimaran ferry Benchijigua Express, in terms of carrying capacity with 1,400 passengers and 357 cars, the Auto Express class newbuilding is one of the largest high speed ferries and has the highest vehicle-passenger capacity of any Austal built vessel. Owing to the vessel’s size, the 170 tonne upper deck ‘super unit’ could only be fitted after the hull emerged from the shipyard’s fabrication hall.

On completion, the 1,000dwt newbuilding sailed on her delivery voyage from Austal’s Henderson shipyard and arrived in her home port of Ronne on the Danish island of Bornholm on 10 June after a 22 day delivery voyage of almost 20,000km. She is running on the scheduled ferry route operated by Bornholmer Faergen, a subsidiary of Faergen, between Ronne and Ystad in south east Sweden. The high speed vehicle-passenger ferry joins the 86m Austal-built catamaran, Villum Clausen, which has been transporting vehicles and passengers on this route since 2000.

Senior Captain Soren Schow, of Bornholmer Faergen, was in command of the new vessel for its 22 day delivery voyage with a crew of 12. “Having spent a significant amount of time at Austal during the construction of’Leonora Christina, I am confident that this vessel will perform well and exceed the expectations of the Bornholm public,” said Captain Schow. “After participating in recent sea trials, I am satisfied that Leonora Christina has fulfilled its speed requirements, while its proven seakeeping capabilities will ensure maximum passenger comfort throughout the 90 minute journey from Bornholm to Ystad,” he added.

Austal was awarded the contract to build Leonora Christina in April 2009, following a competitive international tender process that saw Austal utilize its in-house design team and experience to develop a highly customised vessel design that met all of Faergen’s requirements for the route. Leonora Christina has also been built to comply with stringent Danish regulations covering environmental noise, wave-wash and exhaust emissions, as well as ergonomic working arrangements for the crew and strict fire and safety standards.

The 113m ro-pax ferry has been customised to fit Bornholmer Faergen’s existing high speed ferry berths, which it will share with the smaller Villum Clausen. This resulted in significant savings for the operator since only minimal modifications were needed to be made to the ports of Ronne and Ystad. Leonora Christina maintains the tradition for high standard ferry services offered by Scandinavian operators in general and Bornholmer Faergen in particular, not only in terms of performance, but also with regard to safety, comfort and quality of finish.

Seating for 1,400 passengers is spread over the upper and bridge decks. Ample room and luxury fittings are evident throughout the vessel’s refined, high quality interior, which reflects contemporary Scandinavian design aesthetics. Natural lighting and timber finishing deliver a feeling of light and space throughout the vessel with large skylights located in the vessel’s atrium. Leonora Christina has been designed to allow maximum wheelchair accessibility, with two lifts allowing disabled access from the vehicle to the passenger decks, and designated wheelchair seating locations.

The wheelhouse contains ergonomically designed navigation and control stations as well as a fully integrated monitoring and control system featuring an Austal system that provides the ship’s engineers with the ability to monitor and control the vessel’s safety, propulsion, generating and other operationally critical systems. The wheelhouse extends across the full width of the vessel and provides the crew with maximum visibility, while fully equipped bridge wings on both the port and starboard sides enable safe docking of the vessel in confined ports, especially in winter fog, snow and other adverse conditions.

The three vehicle decks offer a total capacity of 300 truck lane metres, or a maximum of 357 cars, which are accessible via both bow and stern ramps, ensuring efficient ‘drive through’ loading and unloading of the vessel thereby keeping turnaround times to a minimum. The fitting of hoistable vehicle decks provides the flexibility to carry a mix of cars and freight. Lightweight structural fire protection, zoned sprinkler systems and hydrants ensures optimal fire safety during vehicle transport.

The power plant comprises four MAN 20V28/33D diesel engines, each capable of producing a maximum continuous output of 9,000kW at 1,000 rpm. The four high-speed engines are arranged in an off-set tandem configuration, two per hull, each driving a Rolls Royce Kamewa 125 SIIINP waterjet via Reintjes 7541 transmissions. Maximum speed is 40 knots with a service speed at 90% MCR of 37.6 knots.

The vessel has been built in accordance with the requirements and under the survey of Det Norske Veritas, conforming to IMO HSC Code and Danish regulations and is registered under the Danish flag.

Principal particulars

Length o.a. 112.60m
Length b.p. 101.30m
Beam (moulded) 26.20m
Depth: 8.50m
Passenger capacity 1,400
Crew 30 – 35
Vehicles 357 cars
Lane metres 300 truck lane meters
Deadweight 1,000 tonnes max
Fuel: 160,000 litres